Stanton- The Trilogy

by Alex MacLean

  The door swung open to reveal a cute little girl who looked no older than five. She had dark, expressive eyes and long hair done up in a half-loop braid.

  “Hi,” Denis greeted her. “What’s your name?”

  “Jade,” she said. “Who are you?”

  “My name is Denis. Are your parents home?”

  “Mommy is.”

  “Can we speak to her?”

  Jade turned from the doorway. “Mommy.”

  Somewhere in the house, a woman called back, “Who is it?”

  “Denis.”

  “Who?”

  “Denis,” she said louder.

  “Be right there.”

  Another little girl appeared behind Jade. A head taller, she shared the same features, right down to the half-loop braid.

  Looking at the four strangers in the doorway, she frowned. “Who are you guys?”

  Denis told her his name then jerked a thumb at each person accompanying him. “This here is Allan, this is Audra, and that’s Constable Perez behind us. And what’s your name?”

  She said, “We’re not supposed to talk to strangers.”

  “We’re the police,” Denis said politely.

  “Are you going to take us to jail?”

  Denis gave a throaty chuckle. “No, darlin’, we’re not going to do that.”

  The girl narrowed her eyes. “Then why are you here?”

  Denis jerked his head back and slid a glance to Audra. “A little rambunctious, isn’t she?”

  Audra smiled.

  A slender woman with long, dark hair walked up behind them. It was obvious whom the girls took after. She wore a knit tunic and black pants.

  “Girls,” she said. “Go to your room and play.” She stepped up to the doorway. “Sorry, I was busy in the laundry room.”

  “That’s okay, ma’am.” Denis flashed his badge case. “What’s your name?”

  “Heidi.”

  “Heidi Stark?”

  Lips parting, she nodded.

  “Is Jacob Stark your husband?”

  She gave them a guarded look. “He is. What’s this about? Did something happen to him?”

  Denis shook his head. “No, no. I take it he’s not home.”

  “I don’t know where he is. He was gone when I got up this morning.”

  Audra said, “To work, maybe?”

  Heidi looked at her. “I don’t think so. He never had any work lined up, from what I know.”

  “Does he have a habit of doing that? Just going off without telling you?”

  “Well...um...he did take off last week for three days and never told anyone. Never even called the girls. He showed up Saturday night when we were all in bed.”

  Allan asked, “Did he say where he was?”

  “He told the girls he went down to Pennsylvania.”

  “Pennsylvania?”

  Heidi nodded. “To the Allegheny National Forest.”

  Allan frowned. “He told the girls. But not you?”

  A flush crept across Heidi’s cheeks. “We’re...um...not exactly getting along.” She glanced back over her shoulder as if to make sure her daughters weren’t listening. “I gave Jacob divorce papers last night.”

  “How’d he take it?” Audra asked.

  Heidi licked her lips. “Not well. He grabbed me by the throat. I thought he was going to choke me to death right then and there. He had this look in his eyes I’d never seen before.”

  “Did you report it?”

  “No.”

  “Why?”

  Heidi spread her hands. “I didn’t want all that in front of the girls. It would just get them upset.”

  Allan asked, “I presume he didn’t grab you in front of your daughters?”

  “No.”

  “Is he prone to violence?”

  “That was the first time I ever saw him like that.”

  “Obviously, he let you go,” Audra said. “What happened next?”

  “Nothing. I left him in his office and got the girls cleaned up. Then we all went to bed. Jacob stayed in his office. Never showed his face.”

  Denis said, “He’s a business analyst, right?”

  “Consultant.”

  “His job involves a lot of travel?”

  “He’s on the road more than he’s home.”

  “Province to province?”

  Heidi nodded again. “He’s been from Newfoundland to British Columbia.”

  Denis asked, “Has he ever been to Huntsville?”

  “A couple of times, I believe.”

  Denis lifted his chin, quiet.

  “How long has he been at that job?” Allan asked.

  “Over ten years.”

  Audra asked, “Do you ever go with him on his business trips?”

  “No.”

  “Never?”

  Heidi shook her head. “I stay at home with the girls.” She frowned. “Why are you all here? This is quite a police presence. What is it you think Jacob has done?”

  Allan said, “We’re not sure he’s done anything yet.”

  “But you suspect him of doing something, otherwise you wouldn’t be here.”

  Denis handed her the search warrant. “This gives us the right to look around your home. It details what we’re looking for. Why we’re here.”

  The warrant shook in Heidi’s hands. “You’re looking for hiking gear? Jogging apparel?”

  Allan asked, “Does your husband own a pair of Merrell hiking boots?”

  “Wow.” Heidi did a double take. “That’s a rather specific question.”

  “Does he own any?” Allan asked again.

  “I bought him a pair four Christmases ago.”

  “As in two thousand six?”

  “Yes.”

  Denis moved his head forward a bit. “Were they size tens?”

  Heidi gave him an incredulous stare. “Yes.”

  “Are they here?” Allan asked.

  “He threw them out last year, I think. The sole started coming off one. He goes through boots like socks.”

  Audra asked, “How about a blue hoodie and black Adidas sweatpants with three white stripes on the legs?”

  Heidi blinked at her. “He does.”

  “Both?”

  “Yes.”

  “Are those items here?”

  “They should be hung up in his closet. I remember washing them.”

  Audra could see all the pieces falling into place. “Sounds like he jogs and hikes often.”

  “All the time.”

  “Provincial parks?”

  “All over,” Heidi said. “He’s hiked in every park in Ontario that I know of.”

  Allan asked, “How long has he been doing this?”

  “Before we were married. I’m ballparking, but probably ten years or more.”

  Audra became still. She saw Allan and Denis share a look.

  Heidi went back to reading the warrant. “You want computers too?”

  Denis said, “And any documents pertaining to your husband’s job travels. Dates, locations, etcetera.”

  “Why?”

  “Keep reading. Should be right after the listed items.”

  Audra watched Heidi’s eyes widening, her face draining of color.

  A tremor carried her words as she read a passage off the warrant, “Relevant to the investigation of the following indictable offence: murder contrary to section two thirty-one of the Criminal Code.” She openly stared at Denis. “What’s the two in parenthesis mean?”

  He said, “It means planned and deliberate.”

  “Impossible,” Heidi said. “This must be a mistake.”

  Allan said, “It very well could be. Right now, your husband is just a person of interest. Let us do our jobs so we can get to the bottom of this.”

  “A person of interest in whose murder?”

  Audra said, “We can’t disclose that information. It’s imperative that we locate your husband. Does he have a cell phone?”

  Eyes scared, Heidi looked a
t her. “He does.”

  “Can you call him? Tell him something to get him to come home. Just don’t tell him we’re here.”

  Heidi shut her eyes for a moment then nodded. As she handed the warrant back to Denis, he turned around and motioned for Detective Montoya to join them.

  “Who’s that?” Heidi asked.

  “Detective Sage Montoya,” Denis told her. “Works in Forensics. She’ll be collecting the items.”

  “Do I have to leave?”

  Denis shook his head. “We know you have your daughters here. How about you point out where these items are, and we’ll be on our way.”

  Heidi grabbed her cell phone off the kitchen counter as she led them to the master bedroom first. There were two closets, one on each side of the wall. She opened the one on the right.

  The first thing Audra noticed was the color-coding of the clothes hanging inside. They went from white to black, with each color in between organized from light to dark. The second thing she noticed were the shoes placed in a perfect line with the toes facing out.

  Heidi stepped inside. “The hoodie and sweatpants are in here.”

  Montoya set her field kit on the bedroom floor. “You just point them out, ma’am. I’ll do the rest.”

  Biting a fingernail, Heidi looked down one side of the closet then the next.

  “They’re not here,” she said. “Neither one.”

  Audra couldn’t spot them, either. “Could they be in the wash?”

  Heidi gave a slight shake of her head. “I’m doing the laundry. They weren’t in the hamper.”

  Montoya asked, “How ’bout a dresser?”

  “I doubt it,” Heidi said. “He only keeps his undergarments in there.”

  Denis let out an exasperated sigh. “Let’s look.”

  Heidi pointed to the left side of a double dresser. “Those are his drawers.”

  Montoya began poking through them.

  Heidi placed a call on her cell phone. “Jacob, I found the divorce papers in your shredder this morning. Please come home so we can talk about this.”

  As she hung up, Audra asked, “Voice mail?”

  “Yes. He’s not answering.”

  Montoya reached the last drawer. “Nope. No hoodie or sweatpants here.”

  Denis said, “Maybe he has them with him.”

  Heidi shrugged. “He must.”

  Allan looked over at Audra and raised his eyebrows at her.

  “Okay,” Denis said. “Let’s move on.”

  “His office is just down the hall,” Heidi said, leading the way.

  As she walked out of the bedroom, Audra felt a tap on her shoulder. She turned around to see Allan leaning in close to her ear.

  “Do you think Stark saw the media appeal we made to the public?”

  “Possible,” Audra whispered. “He could be following the news coverage of his crimes.”

  Allan nodded. “We better check the trash. He might’ve ditched those items after he read the clothing description we released.”

  Audra scratched her jaw. “He’s married with two little daughters, and he’s off killing in his spare time?”

  “I know. How do you manage to live a double life without one bleeding into the other?”

  “Are you having doubts it’s him?”

  Allan’s face tightened. “Not yet.”

  43

  Oakville, November 1

  6:12 p.m.

  I hear a phone ringing somewhere in the haze between waking and sleeping.

  Slowly, I crack my eyes open and find the hotel room around me in shadow. I turn my head on the pillow, glancing at the bedside clock. The illuminated dial reads 6:12. The time surprises me. I remember lying down around two in the afternoon. I must’ve been more exhausted than I realized.

  I sit up, rubbing at the dry crust that seems to have formed over my eyes. My head still throbs. It feels as if someone is tightening screws into every part of my brain. I swear I’ll never have another drink of vodka for as long as I live.

  A voice-mail alert beeps on my cell phone. I drag myself out of bed and cross the floor to a work desk located at the far wall.

  It was Heidi who called. I listen to her voice mail.

  “Jacob,” she says, “I found the divorce papers in your shredder this morning. Please come home so we can talk about this.”

  Grinding my teeth, I delete the message. I feel like throwing the phone against the wall.

  Sure, Heidi. Sure. What’s there to talk about? You were pretty damn adamant about divorcing me last night. I gave you a second reason, remember?

  Taking a seat at the desk, I scrub a hand over my face. I feel a fire igniting inside me, flushing heat through my body.

  I don’t want to go home. I don’t want to see Heidi. Ever, if that’s possible. And the girls? My heart bleeds when I think about them.

  I don’t know what came over me last night. It all seems surreal, a bad dream. My daughters are the most precious things in my life. How could I think of doing something so terrible to them?

  Even now, as I write this, my hand shakes. The guilt twists my guts into a big knot, makes me want to inflict pain on myself.

  Anger is dangerous and unpredictable. It can blind you. Make you lose self-control. Throw in half a liter of vodka, and you end up in a volatile frame of mind.

  I blame Heidi. She just couldn’t let it go. She convinced herself that I really was having an affair, despite no evidence to support it. Then she serves me with divorce papers and threatens to take my daughters away.

  The bitch. The belligerent bitch.

  As I lay beside Jade with that knife in my hand, I realized how far Heidi could push me, right to the edge of madness. I wanted to hurt her, not my daughters.

  I gently stroked Jade’s hair. Her breathing was deep and even. I could feel her heart beating against my ribs. In that moment, I couldn’t imagine loving another person as much as her.

  I’m not sure how long I held her or how long I cried—silently, so she couldn’t hear me. When I eased myself off the bed, Jade stirred then quickly drifted off again.

  In the semidarkness, I watched her sleeping face. I looked over at Jaleesa. She was asleep on her belly with her arms tucked under the pillow and face turned to the side.

  Staggering out to the kitchen, I put the knife back in the wooden block. I took the near-empty bottle of vodka from my office and returned it to the cupboard. Then I went into the garage, closing the door quietly behind me. I had just made it to the side of my car when the sobs began wracking my body. I’d never had emotion hit me like that before, the sheer force of it knocking me to my knees.

  I wept until I couldn’t weep anymore. Then I crawled onto the backseat of my car and either passed out or fell asleep.

  I woke up the next morning with a throbbing headache. My mouth was so dry, my teeth were stuck to my lips. I checked my watch: 5:20 a.m. Heidi and the girls wouldn’t be up until 6:30.

  The house was still dark, quiet. I wandered into the kitchen and switched on the light. We store the aspirin in the cupboard over the refrigerator. Finding the bottle, I popped two pills into my mouth and chased them down with a glass of water.

  I keep an overnight bag in my car. It contains a change of clothes, a pair of shoes, and of course my journals. I put on those clothes after I cleaned myself up in the bathroom.

  Before anyone got up, I left. I didn’t know where I was going, only that I had to get out of the house.

  The time was 5:55 a.m.

  I stopped at Russell Williams for breakfast and three cups of coffee. I managed to finish everything, even though I felt nauseous. I wasn’t in any shape for a long-distance drive, so I decided to grab a room until I felt better and had a chance to clear my head.

  My cell phone rings again. The bedside clock says 7:01 p.m.

  I pick up my phone, checking the display. It’s Heidi again. I let it ring. I’m still in no mood to speak to her.

  Moments later, the voice-mail alert beeps.


  “The girls are asking about you,” she says. “Where are you?”

  I shake my head. I’m with my mistress, Heidi. Remember?

  I don’t understand why she wants me to go home so badly. She ignored me for nearly two weeks. The most words she said to me during that time came last night when she gave me that application for divorce. I wonder if she really does want to talk or if she has a new set of papers for me to sign.

  I shut my eyes and tilt my head from side to side, thinking this over.

  To go home, or not to go home—that is the question.

  44

  Burlington, November 1

  6:33 p.m.

  When Allan followed Audra into Jacob Stark’s office, Detective Montoya was taking pictures of a Dell desktop.

  Arms folded, Denis watched her from the other side of the desk. Heidi Stark leaned against a bookcase on the left wall, eyeballing her cell phone every few seconds. She looked frightened, wary.

  “Does your husband own any other computers?” Denis asked. “A laptop, maybe?”

  “Just that one,” Heidi said.

  “He does all of his business affairs on it?”

  “Yes.”

  “Does he own any firearms?”

  “I won’t allow them in the house,” Heidi said. “Not with the girls.”

  Montoya set the camera on her field kit. “Be right back,” she said. “I need to get some boxes out of the van.”

  After she left, Allan asked Heidi, “Does your husband keep the boarding passes from his flights?”

  “He keeps everything. In case Revenue Canada ever audits him.”

  “Where would they be?”

  She pointed to a closet door on the opposite wall. “In there.”

  Audra asked, “How about airline receipts? He must keep those as well?”

  “Oh, yes,” Heidi said. “He claims all traveling expenses. Flights. Hotels. Meals.”

  Allan heard the light patter of feet behind him. Turning, he saw Jade standing in the doorway. Her eyes were huge.

  “Mommy,” she said. “Why are the police here?”

  Heidi hurried across the office to her and began ushering her away.

  “They’re just looking around, honey,” she said. “Let’s go back to your room, okay?”